“You can’t beat a job where you get to work with your best friends every single day,” says Tisdale. “I love each and every one of the people in the movie, and when we were shooting the last scene, that definitely showed because we were all in tears and needed a couple of hours to gain our composure and get our makeup redone. It was a really emotional moment.”

Life After High School

Yet with such career-defining experiences under the belts, the principal actors are still eager to venture into new, uncharted territory with more adult roles.

“Like many of the characters in HSM, I struggled to find my place. For a long time, I had no idea I wanted to be an actor,” says Efron. “But once I found the thing I love to do so much, I’m excited about what the future holds.”

Efron recently wrapped production on two movies. His most recent work was in Richard Linklater film Me and Orson Welles, a fitting role, given that it’s an adaptation of the coming-of-age novel by Robert Kaplow. Then in a flick where he gets to flex his comedic chops, Efron plays a 36-year-old in need of a major life change who in Big fashion, wakes up in the body of a high school senior. And if that wasn’t enough to keep his day-planner jam-packed, he’s also rumored to be starring in a remake of Footloose.

But for those wondering if Efron and Co. will ever return for more of the dancing movies that made them all famous in the first place, well, never say never. According to HSM director Kenny Ortega, more movies are in the works, although the details are yet to be confirmed.

“We just finished this one, so nothing has been finalized yet. There’s no script,” Ortega shares. “All I know for sure is that it definitely won’t be College Musical.”

And so the reign of the Wildcats continues. …

 

Starring Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale, Corbin Bleu and Monique Colman, Walt Disney Pictures' High School Musical 3:  Senior Year opens in theaters nationwide on Friday, October 24, 2008.